Initial impact of drug-eluting stent use on the spectrum of patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention

BACKGROUNDThe availability of drug-eluting stents was expected to expand the application of percutaneous coronary intervention to a wider group of patients and lesion types. We sought to determine whether drug-eluting stentsʼ availability has changed the practices of operators performing percutaneous coronary intervention with regard to patient selection and procedural factors. METHODSWe compared the clinical and angiographic characteristics of patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention at the Methodist Hospital, Houston, Texas, during three periodsJune 2002–March 2003, June 2003–March 2004 and June 2004–March 2005. Sirolimus-eluting stents were available during the latter two periods. Paclitaxel eluting stents became available during the third period. RESULTSA greater proportion of patients undergoing diagnostic catheterization were referred for percutaneous coronary intervention during the latter two periods (26.8%, 30.4%, 30.4%, respectively, P